Michigan Pasty Recipe | Yummy Beef Pasties w Vegetables + Easy Dough (2024)

Traditional Michigan Pasty Recipe | Beef Pasties with Vegetables + Easy Dough Recipe From A Yooper| Last updated: March 3, 2023 | By: Sherry Trautman | Travel-Mi.com

If you have ever crossed into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you will see several small mom and pop stores/restaurants selling Upper Peninsula Pasties. It was a staple with the miners as this simple and filling meal could be easily transported and eaten in the copper mines.

So guys, I just wanted to clarify that these beef pasties with vegetables are seriously legit good. Speaking of legit, Chris is a born and raised Yooper (from Michigan's Upper Peninsula). His mom lives in the Houghton region and we love visiting as often as possible. She and Larry love to make homemade pasties or pasty pie and so do we!

See How I Make Pasties and Roll The Crust!

Easy Upper Michigan Pasty Recipe: Beef and Vegetable Pasties

This makes about 6 pasties. This deliciouspasty recipe utilizes ground beef but you can leave it out to make a vegetable pasty.

• 1 pound ground chuck
• 2 russet potatoes, diced
• 1 cup onion, diced (about 1 medium sized onion-I prefer sweet onions, by the way)
• 1/2 cup rutabaga
• 2-3 carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 tsp garlic, diced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• Optional: Egg for an egg wash

Super EasyMichigan Pasty Dough Recipe

Yield: 6 dough balls

• 3 cups of flour, sifted (I use King Arthur flour)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup Crisco (I use sticks)
• 1/2 cup very cold water

So, this is a rutabaga!

If you are worried about not liking the taste of rutabagas, they are very mild with a bit of a spicy zing. Very potato-like. Just buy a small one-I bought a huge one and didn't need even half of it for this Michigan pasty recipe.

OH MAN...rutabagas are super hard to cut! You will need a good knife, like a heavy steel blade to cut a larger one. Be SUPER careful. It's not easy like a potato.

Peel and chop it.

Directions: Let's Make Michigan Beef Pasties!

1. Wash, peel, chop or dice your vegetables to small bite sized pieces.
2. Place vegetables in a large bowl.
3. Add your spices
4. Add your raw beef to the vegetables and mix by hand.

Directions: Michigan Pasty Dough

1. Mix your sifted flour and salt in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add the shortening (Crisco) and incorporate with a pastry blade (see my video above). Once the shortening is cut into the flour and is the size of a tiny pea, it's time to get messy!
3. Add the ice cold water
4. You will need to get in there with your hands (washed first!) to properly incorporate the Crisco into the flour and salt mixture. Don't add more water until it is completely mixed.
5. Don't over mix, I try to do this as quickly as possible to keep the dough cold and not allow the shortening to begin to melt from the heat of my hands. We want flaky crusts!
6. The dough for this pasty recipe makes 6 balls.

Let's Assemble Our Michigan Beef Pasties with Vegetables

We are almost there! So, next take a rolling pin and roll out each of the six dough balls into as close to a circle as you can get. I made mine about 10 inches; you need it bigger than you think to allow room for the filling.

At this point, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

1. Place 1 cup of the raw meat/vegetable mixture on one half of the dough.
2. Fold the other half of the dough over the meat mixture.
3. Tuck the bottom dough over the top and roll upward to seal in the meat mixture.
4. Optional: In a small bowl, beat one egg with a fork and brush the egg onto the finished pasties to create a golden color after baking. So pretty!
5. Place your finished pasties on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
6. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour.

** See my video above! I attempt this one handed while videoing!

Let's Bake Our Beef Pasties! This Upper Michigan Pasty Recipe Looks so Delicious!

Bake your beautiful Michigan beef pasties at 350 degrees for about 1 hour until they are golden brown! We like to eat them with ketchup just like the Yoopers in Upper Michigan! So delicious and filling! We hope you love this Michigan pasty recipe.

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